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Gc 974.302 C31w 1408297
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01096 4176
History of Cavendish, Vermont
by LOIS WHEELER
PUBLISHED BY LOIS WHEELER AT PROCTORSVILLE, VERMONT
1
PROCTORSVILLE, VERMONT
1952
COPYRIGHT 1952 BY LOIS WHEELER
PRINTED BY SPRINGFIELD PRINTING CORPORATION SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT
COMPOSITION BY STONE TYPESETTING COMPANY BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT
-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
5
INTRODUCTION
1408297
7
FOREWORD
9
CHAPTER 1-Mrs. Johnson's Captivity 1754
9
CHAPTER
2-Crown Point Road 1759
14
CHAPTER
3-Cavendish 1769
17
CHAPTER
4-Proctorsville 1782
30
CHAPTER
5-Early Cavendish 18II
36
CHAPTER 6-Soldier's Monument Dedication 1883
43
CHAPTER
7-150th Anniversary Celebration 1912
50
CHAPTER 8-The Flood 1927
56
CHAPTER 9-John Coffeen Dedication 1936
60
CHAPTER 10-A Brief Chronology 1950
63
THE WORLD WAR HONOR ROLL
66
WORLD WAR II HONOR ROLL
67
REFERENCES 70
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Birth of Elizabeth Captive Johnson
11
Monuments Erected by Mrs. Johnson 13
Map of Cavendish, Vermont 18
View of Cavendish Gorge
20
View of Cavendish Gorge
21
Universalist Church, Cavendish, Vermont
23
Phineas Gage's Skull
26
Kenwood Mills (Gay Brothers), Cavendish, Vermont
27
Proctorsville, Vermont around 1865 32
Proctor Reels (Murdock's Mill), Proctorsville, Vermont
33
Soldier's Monument, Cavendish, Vermont
45
1927 Flood, Proctorsville, Vermont
56
Cavendish Town Hall and Soldier's Monument
64
Aerial View of Proctorsville, 1952
Insert I
Aerial View of Cavendish, 1952
Insert II
Copy of Original Charter of the Town of Cavendish
Insert III
16hs
5
PREFACE
Proctorsville, Vermont
March-1950
Dear Friends,
It seems fitting that a history of Cavendish should be finished at the half-century mark. Throughout the years Cavendish has been without one and now at the half way mark it should en- courage history lovers to work for a higher goal-information of the past for the people of today.
Believe me, a history is not so easy to write as it may seem. It's an endless task of searching for material, pictures and maps. Still it is not dull, piecing together the puzzle of a town's be- ginning.
Without the help and encouragement of those who gave me their time and material this history would never have been. To thank each one of you on this page would be impossible. Then let this letter be a small tribute of appreciation to you who remain behind the scenes of this-my first history.
To write a complete history would take many more years than the four that have been spent on this one. I hope, for the time being, that this book will serve as the Town of Cavendish History.
Sincerely,
Lois Wheeler
INTRODUCTION
To the People of Cavendish:
It is a source of much satisfaction to me to know that Lois Wheeler has written a history of Cavendish.
This village has long been a place close to the hearts of my ancestry and to me personally. My grandmother, Emily J. Dutton, was born here, and it was here that she married my grandfather, Redfield Proctor. During the course of their romance, I can easily imagine my grandfather riding in a horse and buggy many times over the road between Proctorsville and Cavendish. In the cemetery are buried several members of the Dutton family, and others related to me.
The histories of our Vermont towns are interesting to those who have had a part in the towns' affairs; they are likewise im- portant in the history of the state. From our Vermont farms and villages have come many men and women who later at- tained fame in national affairs. In our Vermont villages, such as Cavendish, we have found democracy at its best through the years.
I congratulate Lois Wheeler on her efforts in writing such an interesting history of Cavendish. It will be valuable in the annals of the state for generations to come.
Sincerely yours,
Mortimer R. Proctor
MRP LMD
Foreword
T HE worthy Benning Wentworth, esq., colonial governor of the province of New Hampshire, on behalf of his master. George III of England, did on October 12, 1761, convey, grant and deed (subject to usual restrictions) to Amos Kimball, and his associates, the original territory embraced in the town of Cavendish. The grant was to be divided into seventy-two shares, and a number of proprietors in 1762 visited the town, surveyed it, allotted the shares in severalty, and according to their own ac- count "were in great forwardness when disputes arose," which caused them to abandon the undertaking. Another attempt was made in 1765, but it was four years after that before any actual settlement was made. Owing to land difficulties a charter was obtained by the grantees of the New Hampshire Charter, from the province of New York, June 16, 1772.
CHAPTER ONE
Mrs. Johnson's Captivity 1 754
D URING the summer of 1754, the Indians made many at- tacks on the frontier settlers of New Hampshire. On the morning of August 30th, 1754, a party of Indians appeared at Fort No. 4 (now Charlestown, N.H.) and made captives of James Johnson, his wife, three children and several others. Soon after daylight the Indians started with their captives for Canada, by the way of Crown Point, and on the evening of the first day camped in the southwest corner of what is now the town of Reading. On the morning of August 31st Mrs. Johnson, who had been carried half a mile from camp to a spot that was in the present limits of Cavendish, gave birth to a daughter who was named Elizabeth "Captive" Johnson .*
* Elizabeth "Captive" Johnson, the third white woman born in Vermont lived to womanhood, and became the wife of Colonel George Kimball.
9
From "A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson" we have the following account of her revisit:
"In September, 1797, I made a tour, accompanied by Elijah Grout, Esq., and my daughter, E. C. Kimball, to Weatherfield, to find the spot of ground where my daughter was born; but could not find it to my satisfaction at the time. In August, 1798 I again set off for the same purpose, accompanied by my daughter, and was joined by Nathaniel Stoton, Esq., and Mrs. Whipple, of Weathersfield. In this tour we passed two small streams, and on coming to the third I was convinced it must be up that stream some distance. I requested a halt; and on viewing a cliff of rocks, I informed my company that we were not far from the place. We pursued up the stream a little farther, and on viewing the rocks aforesaid, I knew them to be the same which were spoken of by my husband and others on the morning of our departure on our journey with the Indians, which rock, they said, would remain as a monument, that should any of us ever be so happy as to return we might find the place, although at this time, it was nothing but wilderness. We also discovered a small bog meadow where the horse mired with me in the morning prior to the birth of my child. And I recollected that it was nigh the brook, or when crossing the stream, that I felt the first pangs which were indicative of the sorrowful scene that soon followed. And from the rocks before mentioned, the bog meadows, the stream, and a dry spot of ground resembling the one on which the savages built my booth, circumstances that could not well be forgotten, I was well satis- fied as to it's being the place for which I had sought. However, that I might be still more certain, (as I purposed to have a monument erected on the spot,) in 1799 I again set out, ac- companied by my friend and fellow prisoner, Mr. Labaree, and took a further view, to ascertain with more precision the memor- able place. When we had arrived we were both agreeable as to
The book itself, The Captivity of Mrs. Johnson, is one of the rarest Vermont productions. The story was first told by John C. Chamberlain, and published at Walpole, N. H. in 1796. The second edition was printed at Windsor, Vt., in 1807. The third edition, enlarged with notes and appendix was printed at Windsor, in 1814. The last two editions are largely Mrs. Johnson's own handiwork, and were revised and edited at her request. She died November 27, 1810, at the age of 81 years, a month or two after finishing the manuscript of the last edition of her book. Another account is in "Indian Narratives" published in 1854.
10
From "A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson" we have the following account of her revisit:
"In September, 1797, I made a tour, accompanied by Elijah Grout, Esq., and my daughter, E. C. Kimball, to Weatherfield, to find the spot of ground where my daughter was born; but could not find it to my satisfaction at the time. In August, 1798 I again set off for the same purpose, accompanied by my daughter, and was joined by Nathaniel Stoton, Esq., and Mrs. Whipple, of Weathersfield. In this tour we passed two small streams, and on coming to the third I was convinced it must be up that stream some distance. I requested a halt; and on viewing a cliff of rocks, I informed my company that we were not far from the place. We pursued up the stream a little farther, and on viewing the rocks aforesaid, I knew them to be the same which were spoken of by my husband and others on the morning of our departure on our journey with the Indians, which rock, they said, would remain as a monument, that should any of us ever be so happy as to return we might find the place, although at this time, it was nothing but wilderness. We also discovered a small bog meadow where the horse mired with me in the morning prior to the birth of my child. And I recollected that it was nigh the brook, or when crossing the stream, that I felt the first pangs which were indicative of the sorrowful scene that soon followed. And from the rocks before mentioned, the bog meadows, the stream, and a dry spot of ground resembling the one on which the savages built my booth, circumstances that could not well be forgotten, I was well satis- fied as to it's being the place for which I had sought. However, that I might be still more certain, (as I purposed to have a monument erected on the spot,) in 1799 I again set out, ac- companied by my friend and fellow prisoner, Mr. Labaree, and took a further view, to ascertain with more precision the memor- able place. When we had arrived we were both agreeable as to
The book itself, The Captivity of Mrs. Johnson, is one of the rarest Vermont productions. The story was first told by John C. Chamberlain, and published at Walpole, N. H. in 1796. The second edition was printed at Windsor, Vt., in 1807. The third edition, enlarged with notes and appendix was printed at Windsor, in 1814. The last two editions are largely Mrs. Johnson's own handiwork, and were revised and edited at her request. She died November 27, 1810, at the age of 81 years, a month or two after finishing the manuscript of the last edition of her book. Another account is in "Indian Narratives" published in 1854.
10
Reading
N. 74.W. 6 Miles 151 Rods
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Weathersfield.
'Ludlow S.8°W. 8 Miles 129 Rods
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WITHERSPOON
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75 N TON
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Bagle's Head
RIVER
BLACK
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Hawk's
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GLEDE
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SCHOOL
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AT.
Plan f
The Governors R.gRe 32
CAVENDISH
0
Drawn by Joseph Crary, County Surveyor for Windsor una Rutland, August, A D. 1790
N. 1312E.M.SIRods
S. 80°E. 5Miles 266 Rods
Chester
. Begunnu
(Copied from the original Parchment at request of Cavendish Selectmen and Town Clerk by FH DEWART, Cv Eng, Burlington V, Feb 26,1916 "Then up herein is a true copy from the original, to which a few names token from the Field Book of Craigs Survey for the Proprietors) have been card dewant
Copy of Original Charter of the Town of Cavendish, Vermont
6Miles 210 Rods
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Mountain.
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Elisha Gilbert
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the identical spot of ground, even within a few feet; and ascer- tained that it was on the northeast corner lot of land in Caven- dish, and is about half a mile from the main road leading from Weathersfield to Reading, where is erected a monument with the following inscription which the friendly reader may view if he should ever pass that way:
COURTESY NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Birth of Elizabeth Captive Johnson
"This is near the spot where the Indians encamped the night after they took Mr. Johnson and family, Mr. Labaree and Farns- worth, August 30, 1754; and Mrs. Johnson was delivered of her child half a mile up this brook.
"When trouble's near the Lord is kind, He hears the captive's cry; He can subdue the savage mind, And learn it sympathy.
11
Another monument is erected on the spot of ground where the child was born, with this inscription:
"On the 31st of August, A.D. 1754, Capt. James Johnson had a daughter born on this spot of ground; being captivated with his whole family by the Indians.
"If mothers e'er should wander here, They'll drop a sympathetic tear For her, who in the howling wild, Was safe deliver'd of a child."
In June, 1808, I, for the last time, visited the place where almost fifty-four years before, I had experienced the keenest sorrow that perhaps was ever equalled by any woman. I was accompanied by Col. Kimball and my daughter, E. Captive, his wife, to Weathersfield; and there we were joined by Capt. Sher- win and his wife, and Mr. Demell Grout. (This Mr. Demell Grout was a son of Mrs. Grout who was in captivity at the same time that I was). When we arrived at the brook, my thoughts were instantly back at the time I first saw it, though the scene was widely different from what it then was. It was then a dreary wilderness; now the wilderness was turned into fruitful fields, dressed in verdure, which richly repaid the labors of the hus- bandman. It was then a dwelling for savages and wild beasts of the forest; now a habitation of good citizens, with their herds, and flocks, who live in domestic peace, happiness and plenty. After viewing the scene, and contemplating on the striking con- trast a few moments, to add to the sensibility, we sat down and partook of a repast, and regaled ourselves with liquor mixed with water from the same fountain that I and my child first par- took of in that gloomy and sorrowful day of trouble and afflic- tion. Then my fare was meagre meal and water and steeped roots, and a large wooden spoon to feed my infant babe; now we had the best of liquid spirits, and eatables which in com- parison, might be said to be dainties. The contrast is too great for pen to describe." Thus ends the account of Mrs. Johnson's historic contribution to the Town of Cavendish.
12
Two stones stand in the Town of Reading. The History of Charlestown, N.H., says that Mrs. Johnson negotiated these monuments, prepared the inscriptions, and directed that the smaller stone should be placed upon the spot where her child was born, while the larger should mark the place where the Indians encamped; but regardless of her instructions the stones were placed together on the main road leading from Weathers- field to Reading-where they have stood for a century.
In 1018 -- These stones were placed in their present Position by a Descendant of ---- CAPTAIN JAMES JOHNSON and SUSANNAH his wife ..
this is near the fpot that the Indians Encampd the Night afterthey tock M' Johnfon & Family M' Laberee & Farnfworth, Auguft 30% 17 54 And MIS Johnfon was Deliverd of her Child Half a mile up this Brook.
Onthe 31 of August 1/54 Cap & James Johnfon had a Daughter born on this Spol of Ground, berg Captivated with his whole ra: Iv
"When troublef near the Lord is kind. He hears the Captives cry: He can lubdue the lavage mind. And Learn it Sympathy.
by the Indians.
Monuments Erected by Mrs. Johnson
13
CHAPTER TWO Crown Point Road I 759
P ROBABLY every town has some curious bit of history but just the name Twenty-Mile Stream is sufficent to make any per- son wonder just how it came to be.
In 1759, General Jeffery Amherst, British Commander of the Continental forces sent Captain John Stark and two-hundred rangers to cut a road from Fort No. 4 at Charlestown, N.H., to Crown Point, the most important fortress on Lake Champlain.
On this route the men marched twenty miles each day and on the first night out of Charlestown they stopped at what is now called Twenty-Mile Stream. For many years this military road was one of the most important in New England, forming a link in the defense of the colonies and affording an easy means for the transportation of troops and ordnance. Much of the old Crown Point Road has been incorporated in the present state highways, although in places where the ancient route passed over steep hills or across marshes, the route has been abandoned, but may be traced by the growth of small trees along the old highway.
Colonel John Hawks, while traversing the wilderness of Ver- mont, encamped in the South part of Cavendish. The mountain bears the name Hawks Mountain and traces of the encamp- ment, it is said, are still visible.
The Crown Point Road following an old Indian Trail, avoids the tangled underbrush, the swamps and the streams, and keeps along on high ground crossing the tributaries of the Black River near their sources to render bridges unnecessary. From Rus- sell's corner the road pursued a westerly direction by the places now occupied by D. F. Stearns, D. Kendal and A. Wiley until it crossed the east branch of Tracy Brook near I. Hemenway's, then turning toward the northwest it passed to the east of the old burying ground, across the highway near Mr. Quirk's house, and keeping on through his mowing and Mr. Henry Spaulding's pasture, crossed the west branch of Tracy brook near Andrew Parker's house. To the rear of the place where Mr. Parker's
14
barn now stands, the builders of the road encountered a very steep grade, and here for ten or fifteen rods the road is very plain to be seen. Following the old road up a long hill ten or twelve rods east of the present road we come upon the farm of Mr. Jacob S. Parker. Here a great deal of labor was required to be done, and here we come upon the site of one of the old log camps once occupied by the Rangers under Stark, or the men of Hawks or Goffe when they were at work transforming the Indian Trail into a road. When Mr. Junius Parker came here and settled in 1787, the remains of the cabin could still be seen. The spot was well chosen. Nearby is a never-failing spring of delicious cold water. It is a sightly place, where one could not easily be surprised by the lurking and insidious foe. One of the occupants of the cabin fell victim to disease and still sleeps on the hillside beside the road he helped to build. His name has already disappeared.
Following the tracks of the old road where it leaves the site of the old cabin and enters Mr. Parker's "Dutton Pasture" about 30 rods from his house we come upon the grave, one rod north of the stone wall and east of the barway. A rough stone marks the head, within ten feet of the old road. Fifteen rods northwest of the grave a well laid stone causeway fifteen feet across, and then ten rods further on, another, where it became necessary to surmount a ledge, both in a good state of preserva- tion, mark the course of the old road. Through this pasture it is easily traced ascending a rocky knoll nearly to the summit, about forty rods east of the old Nathan Hatch farm on the travelled road, thence, through the woods and upon the farm of Mr. Edward Fletcher, where it runs nearly north, passing east of Mr. Fletcher's barn and thence on past the spot where stood the house of Captain Coffeen, the first settler in Caven- dish. Following the old road we next come to the land of Clark Chapman Esq. and Norman Biglow. Next it crosses the old Carter place, now owned by Mr. Parker Green, and then over land of Mr. Rest. Crossing the highway, Twenty-Mile Stream, and the land of Wm. Smith, Esq. just north of his resi- dence, at the Twenty Mile Post was the Twenty-Mile Encamp- ment" which gave its name to the stream, one of the princi- pal tributaries of the Black River.
According to Mr. Burbank (Historical Address on Twenty- Mile Encampment) an older branch of the road passed from the Jacob Sullivan Parker place to near the Heald place, and from thence it passed round Mt. Gilead and to this spot on the south- west side of Gilead. Its course took it through considerable soft, swampy ground, which was corduroyed. In some places the remains can be seen today, also where a brook was bridged, and there is said to be a cellar hole where Captain Coffeen built his first house in 1769. The later road passed the Chas. S. Parker place where Capt. Coffeen built his tavern. A surveyor's map of the Town of Cavendish in 1790 shows the road going from the tavern directly over the hill westerly. It intersected the other (first) road on the hill east of here, perhaps a third of a mile from this camp ground. In all probability the first road was dis- continued on account of its being soft and wet in places.
Now that over 150 years have passed there is no more valued heirloom that a town can possess than a portion of the Old Crown Point Road. Every farmer whose farm is contiguous to the route desires to claim it on his property. In many places the track is lost and can be located only by tradition.
16
CHAPTER THREE Cavendish I 769
C AVENDISH is located in the south central part of Windsor County. It is bounded on the north by Reading, on the west by Ludlow, on the south by Chester and Baltimore, and on the east by Baltimore and Weathersfield. The territory lies in the valley of the Black River. It was granted to Amos Kimball and his associates, in seventy-two shares, by New Hampshire, the charter being issued October 12, 1761, and was re-chartered by New York, June 16, 1772. Its original area was about seven miles square; but October 19, 1793, the southeastern corner, containing about 3,000 acres, was incorporated into a new town- ship, by the name Baltimore. This was done on account of Hawks Mountain, which formed a natural barrier, preventing convenient communication between the two sections.
The surface of the town is rather uneven, yet not sufficiently so, except in certain localities, to retard cultivation of the soil, which is, in most parts, of an excellent quality. Black River, which flows across the town from west to east, and Twenty-Mile Stream, which flows in a southerly direction and unites with it about a mile and a half north of the village, are the principal streams, though they have many tributaries. The scenography and surface geology of the valley of Black River at this point are among the most interesting and beautiful in the State.
From Chester the railroad enters the town through a valley that was doubtless, in the early ages of the earth's history, the bed of Black River. Following this valley, soon after entering Cavendish, a deep gorge between Hawks Mountain and Dut- tons hill is found. In this gorge abundant evidence is presented, in the water-worn appearance of the rocks and in the numerous pot-holes, that a large stream of water once had its course through this gulf. A small brook, sustained by the waters from a few springs, winds along through the gorge, a diminutive representative of the powerful current that cut down this deep abyss and left in it such fantastic markings. Emerging from the
17
PLYMOUTH,
TOWN OF CAVENDISH, VT. 1761-1941
100
READING
W. WINDSOR
Tyson
Echo L.
--
Felchville
Rescue L.
199 CROWN PT. ROAD
106
Mt. Gilead
131
131
Amsden
CAVENDIS
H
Black.
WEATHERSFIELD
Cavendish
+ Riv
Hawks Mtn ...
: Black
103
Perkinsville
Riv.
BALTIMORE!
106
Riv.
10
North, Springfield
Gassetts
O
1
2
3
4
5
1
(103
SCALE OF MILES
CHESTER
1
Saltash
Reading
Windsor
Ludlow
Cavendish
Cavendish
Andover
Springfield
Chester
STATE OF VERMONT
Whitelaw-1796
Produced by THE NATIONAL SURVEY, Chester, Vt.
Map of Cavendish, Vermont
18
Great
ANDOVER
1
Williams
Brook
SPRINGFIELD 1
103
enty Mile Str.
LUD LOW Ludlow
Proctorsville
Weathersfield
north end of Duttonsville gulf, Cavendish village breaks in upon the view, with Black River flowing through the fertile valley and suddenly disappearing in a deep, dark gorge, the rocky walls of which are more precipitous than those in the gulf just passed. The numerous terraces that skirt the valleys, and the high rocky walls that rise on either side of the deep gorge through which the river now escapes, give evidence that before that rocky barrier was cut asunder by the stream a lake or pond existed in the valley, the outlet of which lay through Duttonsville gulf.
About half a mile east of Cavendish village are Cavendish falls. The waters of the river go dancing down through the deep ravine as though rejoicing in their liberty and exulting at the great victory they had won in the remote past over the adjacent rocks by cutting that yawning and cavernous gorge through them.
"Varnum's Point" is the name given one point affording a magnificent view. The origin of the name is somewhat amusing: In 1841, as Varnum Lockwood was quarrying limestone from the ledge near the southern brink of the river, by springing hard upon his iron bar he lost his balance and was thrown over the precipice into the whirling waters forty-five and one-half feet below. His companions, rushing to the brink, beheld him buf- feting with the high swelling waves, which even and anon would engulf him, in spite of his frantic efforts to escape. At last he succeeded in securing a hold upon a jutting rock, by which he drew himself from the water in an almost exhausted state. He was beyond the reach of his companions, who, solicitous for his welfare, but unable to descend to his assistance, made earnest inquiries whether he was much injured by the fall. Looking up. and intently feeling in his pockets, while the water ran in tor- rents from his drenched person, he replied: "The fall didn't hurt me much, but I'm darned 'fraid I've lost my jack-knife." "Varnum's Point" the spot has ever since been called.
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